Jammu, June 6 -- Centre has included the famous Patnitop hill resort in its global tourist destination scheme, which has sparked optimism for tourist-related growth in the area.

Hill resort of Patnitop, 120 kms from Jammu, is in the list of Centre's top 50 places under global tourist destination scheme.

The scenic hill resort in the Shivalik belt of the lower Himalayas is known for its cool climes, snowfall during winters, pine trees and greenery yet it remained a subject of utter neglect for decades together, said Ashwani Gupta, a local from Kud. He said that Centre's initiative to develop requisite infrastructure at a cost of Rs.500 crore would definitely infuse a fresh lease of life into it.

Patnitop had already been the most prefer...